It is high time the International Community exerts pressure on the Government to investigate immediately the fate of the Missing Persons, Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran noted yesterday at a function where the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances in Jaffna was observed. The Chief Minister also noted in a press communiqué that the families of the victims of enforced disappearances who are resorting to protest demonstrations should be assured that we do support them in their agitations and peaceful demonstrations. “Many demonstrations are being constantly staged these days throughout the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Even though we have been writing, as well as orally calling upon the Government to take meaningful steps regarding missing persons, such steps have not been taken […]

Even if War Crimes were committed by the Sri Lankan military on Tamils than they will not be punished. President Maithiri will follow the steps of Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda and protect the killers as long as they are members of the Sinhala Community and have killed the Tamils. The new Minister speaking to media after officially assuming duties as Justice Minister this morning said the government will take measures to protect those who dedicated their loves for the country. The Minister added the government is bound to protect the country’s sovereignty and those who serve the country. Minister Athukorala said the government’s responsibility is to protect soldiers and not use them for personal political gain. Minister Thalatha Athukorala added she is dedicated towards ensuring efficiency in […]

A special event to hand over 78 houses, to needy families, was organized in Morakkoddanchenai, Batticaloa on Saturday (26). The Minister of Rehabilitation, and Resettlement, D. M. Swaminathan graced the occasion as the chief guest. Addressing the gathering, the Minister stated: “The good governance Government is fully aware that the people in the North and East, who were affected by the conflict, require 160,000 houses and the government is doing its best to provide these houses. The government will make the people’s dreams a reality.” The Minister added that the rice mill which was abandoned in the Morakkoddanchenai area will be reconstructed and would generate employment opportunities for hundreds of people. “Our goal is to give a better life to people who have undergone untold […]

Colombo, Aug 30 (PTI) The Sri Lankan government today came out in defence of a former Army Commander accused of committing war crimes during the brutal civil war against the LTTE, saying every death in the three-decade long conflict cannot be treated as a human rights abuse case. Government spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said the government was prepared to probe any specific charges made against the military and Commander Jagath Jayasuriya. Senaratne, who is also the Health Minister, said the accusations against Jayasuriya were of a general nature. “Every death which occurred during the civil war could not treated as a case of human rights abuse as we were conducting a war against terrorism,” he added. The Army spokesman Brigadier Roshan Seneviratne said the allegations were […]

Early Tuesday morning, news broke that Sri Lanka’s ambassador to Brazil had fled the country. Sri Lanka’s government later announced that his departure was planned, and it was simply the end of his ambassadorial term, but the timing raised eyebrows. The previous day, human rights groups had filed a criminal complaint accusing Ambassador Jagath Jayasuriya of command responsibility for war crimes. Jayasuriya, who is also Sri Lanka’s ambassador to five other Latin American countries, is a former army general. From 2007 to 2009, he oversaw the last phase of Sri Lanka’s civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The United Nations estimates that more than 40,000 Tamil civilians died in the final months of the conflict. Human rights groups have documented indiscriminate shelling of civilian targets, custodial torture, enforced […]

Click to view – Channel 4 – War crimes charges against Sri Lankan ambassador https://www.channel4.com/news/rights-group-files-war-crimes-charges-against-sri-lankan-ambassador The Sri Lankan government has denied its ambassador to Brazil is on the run, after a human rights group filed war crimes charges against him there. Jagath Jayasuriya is flying back home to Sri Lanka just as he stands accused of criminal responsibility for the killing, torture and disappearance of civilians during his previous role as army commander during his country’s civil war. A warning, there are distressing images in this report. Click to view – Channel 4 – War crimes charges against Sri Lankan ambassador

On Wednesday the 30th August the world over observes the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. The aim is to raise awareness that enforced disappearance is a crime and a criminal act, which cannot be used as a tool to deal with situations of conflict. Unfortunately even today enforced disappearance is used as a strategy to spread terror within the society. Unfortunately the phenomenon continues to grow. In its 16 September 2016 in its report to the United Nations, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances noted that the numbers of enforced disappearances was more than three times higher than those reported in the previous year’s annual report”. Enforced disappearance is used as a strategy to spread terror within a diven […]

By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan Chargé d’affaires of the Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Paul Godfrey, tells Ceylon Today that the Government of Sri Lanka set out on an ambitious agenda to fulfil its commitments to the UN resolution but unfortunately has faced several blockages and roadblocks in its progress. “What we see is that there is a certain degree of scepticism about the changes and a certain degree of resistance in some quarters to the changes proposed. It’s up to the senior leaders of the country to reassert their control on these areas and show that progress continues, and if necessary, people who are blocking those processes are removed from their positions,” the British diplomat who has served in […]

Lawyers seek to expel Sri Lankan Ambassador to Brazil Jagath Jayasuriya over alleged abuses committed during the final phase of Sri Lanka’s civil war. Human rights groups in South America have filed war crimes lawsuits against a former Sri Lankan general who is now his country’s ambassador to Brazil. RELATED: Worst-Ever Dengue Outbreak Kills up to 300 in Sri Lanka The lawsuits against Jagath Jayasuriya are based on his role as a commander in the final phase of Sri Lanka’s civil war in 2009. He was accused of overseeing military units that attacked hospitals and killed, disappeared and tortured thousands of people. Jayasuriya has diplomatic immunity in Brazil and five other countries where he is ambassador: Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Suriname. The groups pursuing the suits […]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_BRAZIL_SRI_LANKA_WAR_CRIMES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-08-29-00-00-55 RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Human rights groups in South America are alleging war crimes violations in lawsuits filed against a former Sri Lankan general who is now his Asian nation’s ambassador to Brazil and five other countries in Latin America. The suits against Jagath Jayasuriya are based on his role as a commander in the final phase of Sri Lanka’s civil war in 2009. They allege Jayasuriya oversaw military units that attacked hospitals and killed, disappeared and tortured thousands of people. Jayasuriya has diplomatic immunity in the countries where he is ambassador: Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Suriname. But the groups pursuing the suits hope they will compel regional governments to expel him. Carlos Castresana Fernandez, the lawyer coordinating the effort, told […]

If we had spent more time with LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran, we would probably be able to influence him more, Erik Solheim, the Norwegian peace mediator in the 30-year-long Sri Lanka civil war, said in a conversation with WION’s Padma Rao Sundarji. Padma Rao Sundarji: How and when did the government of Norway decide to mediate in Sri Lanka and why did they pick you? Erik Solheim: We were invited in absolute secrecy by the then President Chandrika Kumaratunga. At the time, only two people in Colombo knew, she and foreign minister Lakshman Kadiragamar. It stayed like that for one-and-a-half years. Only later, it became public.I believe we were invited because we could potentially be acceptable to India as a small nation. And, we were […]

No one forgets that the law of the jungle prevailed during the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime. Mahinda became a lawyer thanks to Felix Dias Bandaranaike. It is now coming to light that Mahinda used the law of the jungle not to gain experience. This story was told by his contemporary Suhada Gamlath, who went onto become the solicitor general. A rape case was heard at the Matara high court around 35 years ago. Then a state counsel, Suhada appeared for the victim, while the accused was represented by Mahinda. Both were friends at the time. Giving evidence, the woman told the court in detail how she was raped while looking for firewood in the jungle. When asked by Suhada if the rapist was present in the […]

A member of the Election Commission, Prof.S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole has been intimidated by the police, a highly placed source closed to the Speaker and the Chairman of the Constitutional Council told Colombo Telegraph. Police officer Wanninayake speaks to Prof Jeevan Hoole’s elder brother Dr. Rajan Hoole with Black Maria like vehicle (WP LF 0711) and armed police According to a complaint made by Prof. Ratnajeewan Hoole, mid-morning on 16th August, an armed police party called at the home of Prof. Hoole in Jaffna and wanted to take him away to the Jaffna police station under an old warrant issued in 2011 at the instigation of Douglas Devananda that everyone knew was vindictive. “There is no doubt that the attempted arrest was triggered by Prof. Hoole’s role as an outspoken […]

By Vijith Samarasinghe Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena last month signed a gazette to establish an Office on Missing Persons (OMP) so as to pretend to be delivering justice for the tens of thousands of people who disappeared during the country’s three-decade communal war and civil emergencies. In reality, this is a desperate attempt by the government to paint itself in “democratic” colouring, while protecting and further arming the same police and military forces responsible for these crimes. More than 20,000 people, mainly Tamils, went missing during the 26-year communal war that ended in May 2009. Tens of thousands of Sinhala youth also disappeared during the suppression of rural unrest in the 1988–1990 period. These people were abducted by the security forces or associated paramilitary […]

ByD.B.S.Jeyaraj The month of August saw a flurry of hectic political activity in Sri Lanka. The statement made by controversial minister Ravi Karunayake at the Presidential Commission of inquiry followed by his resignation, the move to postpone Provincial council polls by way of the 20th Constitutional amendment, the revolt within UNP ranks against the conduct of maverick UNP minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and the fast tracking of probes concerning allegations against family members of ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa along with other issues like the SAITM affair etc have been drawing the attention of the nation at large for the past few weeks. Priyasath Dep takes oath-as new Chief-Justice In the midst of all this August excitement, the supreme court of Sri Lanka delivered a landmark judgement of […]

By Mirudhula Thambiah The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) is to work with the Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) to renovate and preserve the Thileepan monument, which was subjected to constant destruction by various parties since its inception in 1988. NPC Chairman C. V .K. Sivagnanam said the monument in Nallur is dilapidated and a decision was adopted by the house to take necessary action to clean the surroundings and renovate it. This monument was initially erected in 1988, but was destroyed by various groups and was reinstated in 1999. “We will collaboratively carry out the task with the JMC to initially……clean the place where the monument is situated as it is surrounded by pollution. There is an ice cream parlour opposite the monument, where customers have […]

The Islamic State (IS) suicide bomber attempted to brainwash Sri Lankans using Facebook other personal messenger services, the Press Trust of India reported. IS today claimed that an Indian suicide bomber killed a “number” of people in an attack in Syria’s north west Raqqa, the de-facto capital of the terror group. In a statement in Arabic via its Amaq propaganda agency, the IS identified the Indian suicide bomber as Abu Yusuf al- Hindi, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, a US-based monitoring firm. The terror group claimed killing and wounding a “number” of what it described as “Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) apostates” in the suicide attack involving the Indian bomber. However, there was no confirmation about the IS claim by the Indian agencies. Abu Yusuf al-Hindi […]

Sri Lanka is once again top in a global list of states that torture its citizens. This is the sixth year in a row that Sri Lanka has been named as the leading state in torture. UK based Freedom from Torture (FFT) that has helped people from 76 countries to overcome torture has met with 230 victims from Sri Lanka, last year. The number is much higher than the torture victims from the second in the list, Iran. FFT has seen 140 torture victims from Iran. ‘Nothing changed’ “In 2016, Sri Lanka was the top country of origin for torture survivors referred to Freedom from Torture services for the sixth year in a row. These referrals include people who have been detained and tortured since the […]

The European Union (EU) today asserted that Sri Lanka must fully implement the resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. “There is no change in the EU support for the full implementation of the UNHRC resolution,” the EU office in Colombo said. The EU said that the critical element is that justice has the victims at its heart and facilitates national healing. “Anything else will not be accepted by the international community or – more importantly – the victims themselves,” the EU added. A committee headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was to be appointed to look at implementing the recommendations on Sri Lanka by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Cabinet had in June approved a proposal made by Prime Minister Ranil […]

BY Thambithurai Pratheepan Northern Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran yesterday (17) claimed that in order to safeguard his position in the Northern Provincial Council (NPC), Opposition Leader S. Thavarajah was attempting to show that the Council was incapable of functioning. Speaking at yesterday’s Council sittings, Wigneswaran said, “The leader of the Opposition, to safeguard his position in the council, had always tried to show that we are incapable.” He added that the Opposition Leader had become unpopular amongst his party membership and was therefore, in order to safeguard his position, trying to gain media publicity. An argument occurred between the Opposition Leader and the Chief Minister during the 102nd sitting of the Northern Provincial Council, when the debate on the performance of the council, during the […]